Dutch II Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar

21. Possessive Adjectives

Singular

Plural

mijn (m'n)
jouw (je)
uw

my
your (informal)
your (formal)

ons / onze
jullie (je)
uw

our
your (informal)
your (formal)

zijn (z'n)
haar
zijn (z'n)

his
her
its

hun

their

Ons is used before singular neuter/het nouns, and onze
is used elsewhere (before singular common/de nouns, and all plural nouns.)
Je, the unstressed form of jouw, is commonly used in spoken
and written Dutch, unless the speaker/writer wants to stress the pronoun.
In the plural, jullie is the norm, unless jullie has already
been used in the sentence, then je is used to avoid the redundancy.
The other unstressed forms are not commonly written in the standard language, but are commonly
spoken and written in informal communication.

Like in English, Dutch possessive adjectives are used
in front of a noun to show possession: mijn boek (my book). There
are a few ways to express the -'s used in English too. -s can be added
to proper names and members of the family: Jans boek (John's
book) The preposition van can be used to mean of: het boek
van Jan (the book of John = John's book) And in more colloquial
speech, the unstressed forms in parentheses above (agreeing in gender
and number) can be used in place of the -s: Jan z'n boek (John's
book)

To form the possessive pronouns, add -e to the
stressed forms (except for jullie) and use the correct article. The
only way to show possession with jullie is to use van jou (literally
meaning "of you"), although all the others can be used with
van too.

At translates as bij when it's a personal location,
such as ik ben bij Jan (I'm at Johns place/I am with John). Om
refers to time: om 12 uur (at noon); and aan refers to an
impersonal location: aan tafel (at the table). By is met
in the sense of ik doe het met de hand (I do it by hand) or ik
ga met het vliegtuig (I go by plane). From is van when
it refers to a person, een kado van jou (a gift from you); and
uit when it is a location, ik kom uit Japan (I come from
Japan.) Vandaan indicates from where, as in waar kom
jij vandaan (where are you from?)

25. Countries and Nationalities

Country

Nationality (masc. / fem.)

Africa

Afrika

Afrikaan / Afrikaanse

America

Amerika

Amerikaan / Amerikaanse

Argentina

Argentinië

Argentijn / Argentijnse

Asia

Azië

Aziaat

Austria

Oostenrijk

Oostenrijker / Oostenrijkse

Belgium

België

Belg / Belgische

Brazil

Brazili

Braziliaan / Braziliaanse

China

China

Chinees / Chinese

Denmark

Denemarken

Deen / Deense

England

Engeland

Engelsman / Engelse

Europe

Europa

Europeaan

France

Frankrijk

Fransman / Française

Germany

Duitsland

Duitser / Duitse

Great Britain

Groot Brittani

Brit / Britse

Greece

Griekenland

Griek / Griekse

Holland

Holland

Hollander / Hollandse

Hungary

Hongarije

Hongaar / Hongaarse

India

India

Indir / Indische

Ireland

Ierland

Ier / Ierse

Italy

Italië

Italiaan / Italiaanse

Japan

Japan

Japanner / Japanse

Netherlands

Nederland

Nederlander / Nederlandse

Norway

Noorwegen

Noor / Noorse

Poland

Polen

Pool / Poolse

Portugal

Portugal

Portugees / Portugese

Russia

Rusland

Rus / Russin

Spain

Spanje

Spanjaard / Spaanse

Sweden

Zweden

Zweed / Zweedse

Switzerland

Zwitserland

Zwitser / Zwitserse

Turkey

Turkije

Turk / Turkse

United States

Verenigde Staten

Amerikaan / Amerikaanse

The feminine form of many occupations and nationalities is indicated
by one of five endings. For most nationalities, -e is added, as
in Nederlandse (Dutch woman). The endings -in, -es, -esse and -ster
are also used to form female counterparts. -ster is added to verbs while
-esse replaces the -is ending of some nouns.

The word niet (not) is used to negate sentences, and
is generally placed at the end of the clause. However, niet precedes a
preposition, an adjective that follows a noun, and the words binnen
(inside), buiten (outside), beneden (downstairs), boven
(upstairs) and thuis (at home).

Een is usually not preceded by niet or any phrase ending with
niet (ook niet - not either, nog niet - not yet). Instead,
geen, ook geen and nog geen replace the article.
Geen is translated by not a, not any or no when followed
by a noun in English. Geen also negates nouns that cannot be counted,
such as water, bier and wijn.

Jan leest niet. Jan does not read.Hij werkt volgende week ook niet. He is not working next week either.Ik wil geen kopje koffie. I don't want a cup of coffee.Zij hebben nog geen huis gevonden. They have not found a house
yet.

Ik kom uit Nederland. I come from the Netherlands.Zij gaat naar New York. She's going to New York.

29. Conjugating Regular verbs

English has three ways of expressing the present tense, such as I run,
I am running, I do run. All three of these tenses are translated
as one tense in Dutch. Most verbs are regular in Dutch in the present
tense, and it is formed by using the verb stem (the infinitive minus the
-en), and adding these endings (Note that there is no ending for the first
person singular form, and all the plural forms are identical to the infinitive):

Verb endings

drinken - to drink

-
-t
-t

-en
-en
-en

drink
drinkt
drinkt

drinken
drinken
drinken

There is, however, an alternative present tense to express an action
that is currently happening: use zijn aan het with the infinitive.
Ik ben aan het koken would translate as I am cooking (right
now.)

The perfect tense in English of expressions of "for," "since"
and "how long?" are rendered by the present tense in Dutch:Ik woon hier al vijf jaar. I have lived here for five years.Hij werkt sinds april met zijn broer. He has been working with
his brother since April.

Graag is an adverb used with verbs to express "to like to.."
instead of using the verb houden van, which literally means to like or
love.

To form questions, simply invert the subject and verb. For the second
person singular form (jij), the -t ending of the conjugated verb is dropped.
Dutch does not have an equivalent of the English "do" in questions,
so Woon jij in Rotterdam? means Do you live in Rotterdam? although
it literally is Live you in Rotterdam?

30. Irregularities in Regular verbs

When you add the present tense endings, you must observe
the regular spelling rules in Dutch. Words with long vowels (aa, ee, oo,
and uu) drop the one vowel when another syllable is added. Words with
the short vowels (a, e, i, o and u) double the following consonant to
keep the vowels short. The letters f and s occur at the end of words or
before consonants, while the letters v and z occur in the middle of words
before vowels. Notice how the infinitive is still identical to the plural conjugations for wij, jullie, and zij, and the stem is identical to the ik form.

One verb that does not follow the spelling rule is komen.
The singular forms are all written and pronounced with the short o, while
the plural forms are written and pronounced with the long o: kom, komt
and komen. (According to the spelling rules, the singular forms should
be the long o, but they are not.)

There are five verbs whose ending is only -n: gaan (to
go), staan (to stand), slaan (to hit), doen (to do)
and zien (to see); the first three change according to the spelling
rules.

If a stem ends in -t, you do not add another -t for the second
and third person singular forms. zitten - to sit; hij zit
- he sits

Verb stems that end in -oud and -ijd drop the -d in the first
person singular and in question forms of the second person singular form.
The -d can be written, but it is not pronounced. rijden - to ride;
ik rij(d) - I ride; rij(d) jij? - do you ride?

31. Modal Verbs

In Dutch, there are four modals: kunnen - to be able
to, can; moeten - to have to, must; mogen - to be allowed
to, may; and willen - to want to. Modals can be used with other
infinitives without the use of prepositions.

kunnen

moeten

mogen

willen

ik
jij / u
hij / zij / het
wij
jullie
zij

kan
kan / kunt
kan
kunnen
kunnen
kunnen

moet
moet
moet
moeten
moeten
moeten

mag
mag
mag
mogen
mogen
mogen

wil
wil / wilt
wil
willen
willen
willen

The -t of kunt and wilt are dropped in inversions with jij, but not with
moet. Kan and kunt are used interchangeably for the second person singular
form of kunnen, so jij kan and jij kunt as well as jij wil and jij wilt are both possible. The main difference is that kan and wil are considered slightly more informal with jij than kunt or wilt.

Common verbs, such as doen and gaan, can be omitted in
Dutch after modals, but not in the English translation. In addition, impersonal
constructions with het/dat + modals are used.

Dat kan. That's possible/can
be done.
Het moet. It must be done.

When modals are used with other verbs, the other verb is in the infinitive
and placed at the end of the clause or sentence.

32. Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs express an action that reciprocates back
to the subject. In other words, whoever is speaking is doing an action
to himself. Examples in English would be: I wash myself, he hurts himself,
we hate ourselves. The reflexive pronouns always follow the subject and
verb.

Reflexive Pronouns

me
je / u
zich

ons
je
zich

The reflexive pronoun u is often replaced by zich to avoid
the double occurrence of u.

These prefixes always remain attached to their infinitives.
The inseparable prefixes are unstressed syllables, as compared
to the separable prefixes, of which most can stand alone as prepositions.
-ann, -onder, -over, -door, -voor and -om can also be inseparable prefixes
if they are unstressed.

36. Present Perfect or Past Indefinite Tense

This tense is used more often than the simple past, especially
in conversation, and is equivalent to I have asked or I
asked. Regular verbs use a form of hebben or zijn and a past
participle. Past participles are made by adding ge- to the
beginning of the verb stem and -t or -d to the end.
Verb stems are the infinitives minus the -en, with the appropriate spelling
changes. The stems are identical to the first person singular present
tense form.

-t is added to stems ending in t, k, f, s, ch, and
p (note that if the stem ends in -t already, you do not double the consonant),
while -d is added to all other stems, except those already ending
in -d. (If a stem ends in -f or -s, but the infinitive contained -v or
-z, then still add a -d)

Verbs with inseparable prefixes do not add ge- in this tense.
Verbs with separable prefixes add the ge after the prefix and before
the stem (afgemaakt).

Hebben vs. Zijn
Some verbs of motion can take either hebben or zijn depending on whether
it is the action that is stressed (hebben) or the destination/direction
(zijn.) Verbs taking zijn are generally intransitive (they do not take
direct objects) and denote a change in motion/position or change in state/condition.
Most verbs derived from zijn verbs also take zijn in the perfect tense.

Modals
The past participles of the modals (kunnen: gekund; moeten: gemoeten;
mogen: gemoogd, willen: gewild) are only used when the modal
is used independently of another verb.
Ik heb het gemoeten. I had to (do it).

If the perfect tense of a modal is used with another verb,
then the past participle of the modal is replaced by its infinitive. This
double infinitive construction (infinitive of modal + other infinitive)
is always placed at the end of the clause or sentence.
Ik heb gisteren kunnen komen. I was able to come yesterday.

37. Irregular Past Participles

Infinitive

Past Participle

Infinitive

Past Participle

begin

beginnen

begonnen

walk

lopen

gelopen

understand

begrijpen

begrepen

must, have to

moeten

gemoeten

offer

bieden

geboden

may

mogen

gemogen

remain

blijven

gebleven

call

roepen

geroepen

break

breken

gebroken

write

schrijven

geschreven

bring

brengen

gebracht

sleep

slapen

geslapen

think

denken

gedacht

hit

slaan

geslagen

do

doen

gedaan

stand

staan

gestaan

drink

drinken

gedronken

speak

spreken

gesproken

eat

eten

gegeten

die

sterven

gestorven

go

gaan

gegaan

forget

vergeten

vergeten

give

geven

gegeven

lose

verliezen

verloren

have

hebben

gehad

find

vinden

gevonden

help

helpen

geholpen

ask

vragen

gevraagd

be called

heten

geheten

know

weten

geweten

hold

houden

gehouden

show

wijzen

gewezen

look

kijken

gekeken

want

willen

gewild

come

komen

gekomen

become

worden

geworden

buy

kopen

gekocht

say

zeggen

gezegd

get

krijgen

gekregen

see

zien

gezien

can, be able to

kunnen

gekund

be

zijn

geweest

let

laten

gelaten

sing

zingen

gezongen

read

lezen

gelezen

sit

zitten

gezeten

lie

liggen

gelegen

look for

zoeken

gezocht

38. Zijn Verbs

A few common verbs take zijn instead of hebben in the present
perfect tense:

blijven
blijken
gaan
gebeuren
komen

to stay
to appear/seem
to go
to happen
to come

stoppen/ophouden
verdwijnen
verschijnen
worden
zijn

to stop
to disappear
to appear
to become
to be

39. Food and Meals

breakfast

ontbijt (n)

bread

brood (n)

lunch

middagmaal (n), lunch

pepper

peper

dinner

avondeten (n)

salt

zout (n)

glass

glas (n)

ice

ijs

fork

vork

vinegar

azijn

spoon

lepel

oil

olie

knife

mes (n)

sugar

suiker

napkin

servet (n)

butter

boter

plate

bord (n)

table

tafel

silverware

bestek (n)

dish

schotel

tea

thee

juice

sap

steak

biefstuk

water

water

cake

taart / cake / koek

wine

wijn

ice cream

roomijs (n)

beer

bier (n)

coffee

koffie

beverage

drank

pie

vlaai

milk

melk

mustard

mosterd

egg

ei (n)

rice

rijst

honey

honing

jam

jam

snack

snack, tussendoortje

soup

soep

cheese

kaas

salad

salade

cookies

koekje

40. Fruits, Vegetables and Meats

fruit

vrucht

cabbage

kool

pineapple

ananas

pumpkin

pompoen

apple

appel

olive

olijf

apricot

abrikoos

radish

radijs

banana

banaan

lettuce

sla

pear

peer

tomato

tomaat

strawberry

aardbei

onion

ui

raspberry

framboos

meat

vlees (n)

cherry

kers

veal

kalfsvlees (n)

lime

limoen

lamb

lam (n)

lemon

citroen

beef

rundvlees (n)

orange

sinaasappel

ham

ham

peach

perzik

pork

varkensvlees (n)

grapes

druif

bacon

bacon

vegetables

groente

sausage

worst

cauliflower

bloemkool

poultry

pluimvee (n)

bean

boon

duck

eend

pea

erwt

goose

gans

cucumber

komkommer

chicken

kip

carrot

wortel, peen

turkey

kalkoen

potato

aardappel

fish

vis

The National Anthem of the Netherlands: Wilhelmus van NassouweBy Marnix van St. Aldegonde (2 stanzas out of 15)

William of Nassau am I, of Dutch blood;
True to the fatherland I remain until death.
Prince of Orange am I, free and fearless.
To the King of Spain I have always given honour.
You, my God and Lord, are my shield, on You I rely.
On You I will build; never leave me,
So that I may remain pious, your servant at all moments,
Dispelling the tyranny that wounds my heart.

The National Anthem of Belgium: De BrabançonneBy Alexandre Dechet, 1830

O beloved Belgium,
sacred land of our fathers,
Our heart and soul are dedicated to you.
Our strength and the blood of our veins we offer,
Be our goal, in work and battle.
Prosper, O country, in unbreakable unity,
Always be yourself and free.
Trust in the word that, undaunted, you can speak:
For King, for Freedom and for Law. (x3)